CQuartz UK smearing and drying that way

[dnoraker]

No matter what I do, I seem to get smearing in the coating that I have to polish out after curing. It looks like when a car is waxed and the wax residue isn't totally removed. I go through several CarPro suede towels trying to wipe it off during application with no success. When I've applied before, I just go hunt down the smears and hand polish back out with Essence.

[dnoraker]

To take care of the smearing, I tried hand polishing with Essence and that wasn't quite cutting the smears. I'm now using the Rupes and a Gloss pad on speed 2-3 and making one medium-speed pass and that seems to be the right amount. I tried speed 1 and a medium speed pass and it didn't clear it.

Now the paint looks insanely glossy like it should, instead of murky relative to how it should be.

[vobro]

UK is really hard to work with when the temps and humidity are high, did you have these issues when temps were below 70?. UK was designed for application in cooler temps,for an easier application in warmer temps use the regular CQ.

[dnoraker]

I'm in a climate controlled garage. It was a little humid outside and maybe a tad inside, but I have the a/c running at 68 degrees.

It seemed to be more on the second coat, and maybe it wasn't fully cured when I tried to top it. But, the first was smearing a bit as well, and that seems to be the norm.

I just ran out of my UK, and have half a 30ml bottle of the regular CQ left so I think I'll use that next time and compare. I've only coated one car outside of personal vehicles and a couple friends' cars, so I'm thankfully able to correct any issue that may come up. The one friend has a red 2013 Camaro SS convertible I coated, and he gets asked all the time if it's new (has about 50k on it). He's pretty thrilled with it. That was the UK version.

[dschia]

Could it be your UK has been opened for some time or you are finishing off the last bit in the bottle? Just like most similar sort of silica coating, the product will semi-cure and gets harder and harder to use after some time when it is opened, sometimes as short as a few days/ weeks depending on how much it is expose to the open air. I had that problem too for some silica coating which has been opened for weeks and when I am trying to finish the last bit in the bottle.

[JeffM]

Your waiting too long.

[custmsprty]

Better yet go with Polish Angel Cosmic on autopia. I applied the two step process in my garage last month in Florida in 90+ heat and 90+ % humidity.

[dnoraker]

This was toward the end of the bottle. I suppose that was a possibility, but it still did this to some degree when it was new.

It doesn't seem to matter how fast I'm wiping it off. The high spots, which look darker, are easy to wipe off. It's the faint smearing like a polish that won't come off that's still there. I switch to a fresh towel and it doesn't help. It smears around but doesn't wipe off.

I'm calling it a mixture of higher humidity and old product at the bottom of the bottle. It was new last fall, but this is like the 4th car I've coated with it.

I need to coat the other half of my minivan soon, so I'll try the regular CQ and see how that goes. Though, that bottle is even older and I've used it on a couple cars.

[AuroraDetailing]

How long are you waiting to put on the second coat? If you decide to do that, you should wait for it to fully cure. You are probably softening the first coat with the second if you are doing it on the same day. I noticed the first time I used it that I couldn't wait long at all to buff it out, and to not use so much product. I did half a hood on a Dodge Ram, waited a minute, then buffed it out and it came out perfect. I thought maybe I should wait longer, and did the second half of the hood, one fender, and the driver door and went back to the hood to buff it and the suede cloth was sticking to it and completely ruining it. I used Wolfgang Perfekt Finish to clean it all back off and redo it. I got back to the door in time to buff it out, but the fender was too late like the hood. I had a rough time getting it off even when it was fresh, so not sure how bad it will be to get it off when it's cured. If you can't wipe it off any faster, you might be using too much product.

[David Hayward]

I find that I do a bit heavier of a coating when I use cquartz and it comes out streak free. My tips are to use their suede towels to initially wipe down after applying and then switch to a standard microfiber towel to buff it perfectly. This seems to give me perfect results every time. Also making sure to use a lot of the small suede towels on the applicator. I typically use 1 for every 2 panels. As the coating cures up on those it starts to leave streaky results so they need to be changed out.

[dschia]

It's the faint smearing like a polish that won't come off that's still there. I switch to a fresh towel and it doesn't help. It smears around but doesn't wipe off.


Ok, now i understood what you actually meant. I initially thought you were referring to streaks. I have tried quite a number of coatings and my observation is it is actually normal for some coatings to act like that. There was once I wipe the same spot with 4 new towels and the smear is still there but that was with another coating. The most i could do is to thin it down as much as possible and even up the smear as much as possible.

[dnoraker]

How long are you waiting to put on the second coat? If you decide to do that, you should wait for it to fully cure. You are probably softening the first coat with the second if you are doing it on the same day. I noticed the first time I used it that I couldn't wait long at all to buff it out, and to not use so much product. I did half a hood on a Dodge Ram, waited a minute, then buffed it out and it came out perfect. I thought maybe I should wait longer, and did the second half of the hood, one fender, and the driver door and went back to the hood to buff it and the suede cloth was sticking to it and completely ruining it. I used Wolfgang Perfekt Finish to clean it all back off and redo it. I got back to the door in time to buff it out, but the fender was too late like the hood. I had a rough time getting it off even when it was fresh, so not sure how bad it will be to get it off when it's cured. If you can't wipe it off any faster, you might be using too much product.

I waited an hour for the second coat, per instructions I've read.

[dnoraker]

Ok, now i understood what you actually meant. I initially thought you were referring to streaks. I have tried quite a number of coatings and my observation is it is actually normal for some coatings to act like that. There was once I wipe the same spot with 4 new towels and the smear is still there but that was with another coating. The most i could do is to thin it down as much as possible and even up the smear as much as possible.

it's more of an oily look. I thought maybe it would level out after awhile, but after it fully cured overnight, the look was still there like faint swirl marks. Not the high spots that look dark. I lightly polished the whole car with Essence and it was perfect.

[dnoraker]

I find that I do a bit heavier of a coating when I use cquartz and it comes out streak free. My tips are to use their suede towels to initially wipe down after applying and then switch to a standard microfiber towel to buff it perfectly. This seems to give me perfect results every time. Also making sure to use a lot of the small suede towels on the applicator. I typically use 1 for every 2 panels. As the coating cures up on those it starts to leave streaky results so they need to be changed out.

I went to a heavier coat after watching the video CarPro has. I may have to try following with a microfiber after the suede.

I usually use two suede applicators- I do a quarter of the car with each side. I did notice the first applicator gumming up later in the job, so I switched to the new one. However, this was kind of a different issue. I got the smeary look even earlier with the first coat and a fresh applicator.

I just need to keep practicing and reading others' descriptions of their process.

The car turned out great in the end. A few of us guys were standing in the church parking lot this evening staring at it. They had never seen a car that glossy before. It was kind of fun to see their shock.

[David Hayward]

I think you will like doing the microfiber after the suede towel. Sometimes I notice the suede towel smearing around the coating and not leveling it off well. The regular mf towels seem to clean it up really nice.